Your Ten Best of the 90's

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by cinemabon
I am woefully inadequate, especially in "foreign" cinema where so many excellent filmmakers have emerged over the past decade, given the rise of the indies.
All that is about to change. I am moving to the East Coast, lock, stock, and family (wife and kid). Hopefully, in my new home and larger city, I will have greater access .

Besides Dekalog and Heimat, I watched others from the foreign list and the Casavettes film on home video. Nowadays you can rent by mail at a reasonable cost, so location is less important (you do get more opportunities to watch foreign films in theatres in large cities). The only film from the 80s list not on video is El Sur, from the director of The Spirit of the Beehive.

[oscar jubis]

I've edited my 90s list to include Safe from director Todd Haynes (Poison, Far From Heaven). Safe, starring Julianne Moore, keeps gaining gravity and subtext every time I watch it. It's about a lot more than environmental illness and new age mysticism. I moved the doc Visions of Light out of the top 10 to the runners-up list. By the way, Mr. Haynes is currently working on a Dylan bio.

[SinjinSB]

After seeing so many folks on here mention Dekalog, I'm renting it from Netflix. I just finished the first disc (I-III) and really like it. Not sure if it will make my Top Ten of the 80s yet, but I appreciate the recommendation as it's something I might have missed. The second disc is on it's way and I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Andrew

[Johann]

Right on-

Tell us what you think about Kieslowski's labour of love. Some episodes are more powerful than others-make sure you're paying attention-the slow pacing may provoke daydreams.
Resist the demons! Dekalog is profound cinema. If Stanley Kubrick allowed his name to be stenciled on the DVD box, it's a special work.

And about Dylan- Scorsese just announced he's working on a HUGE anthology film on the life of Dylan. Now I'm stoked!

Johnny's in the basement mixin' up the medicine...

[Howard Schumann]

Here are my favorites from the Gay Nineties:

1. Leolo, Canada, 1992, Jean-Claude Lauzon
2. The Quince Tree Sun, Spain, 1992, Victor Erice
3. Wild Reeds, France, 1994, Andre Techine
4. Lamerica, Italy, 1995, Gianni Amelio
5. Stolen Children, Italy, 1992, Gianni Amelio
6. La Promesse, Belgium, 1996, Jean & Luc Dardenne
7. A Place in the World, Argentina, 1992, Adolfo Aristarain
8. Smoke, US, 1995, Wayne Wang
9. Taste of Cherry, Iran, 1997, Abbas Kiarostami
10. Grand Canyon, US, 1991, Lawrence Kasdan

Honorable Menshun

11. It All Starts Today, France, 1999, Bertrand Tavernier
12. Dreamlife of Angels, France, 1998, Eric Zorca
13. Goodbye South Goodbye, Taiwan, 1996, Hou Hsiao-Hsien
14. Trois Couluers Trilogy, France, 1992-4, Kieslowski
15. Close-Up, Iran, 1990, Abbas Kiarostami
16. The Long Day Closes, UK, 1992, Terence Davies
17. Man in the Moon, US, 1991, Robert Mulligan
18. Searching for Bobby Fischer, US, 1993
19. La Haine, France, 1995, Matthieu Kassovitz
20. Dead Man, US, 1995, Jim Jarmusch

[Johann]

You wouldn't be a fan of foreign films, would you, Howard?

Nice to see yet another Canadian on the boards. Go to the Cinematheque much? Videomatica? Black Dog?

[Howard Schumann]

Originally posted by Johann
You wouldn't be a fan of foreign films, would you, Howard?

Nice to see yet another Canadian on the boards. Go to the Cinematheque much? Videomatica? Black Dog?

Thanks. It's nice to be here. I do prefer smaller films to big productions regardless of the country of origin but if I'm interested in the subject matter, I will see most any film. I go to the Cinematheque every so often and frequent Videomatica and Limelight Video about equally. Haven't heard of Black Dog however.

[Johann]

Haven't heard of Black Dog? It's one of the best video stores in Van!

There's a brand new alternative video store here in Calgary that models itself after Black Dog. It's called "Bird Dog Video"- they have lots of Criterions to rent- I'm boning up on Bergman for my next cinema study which will appear soon.

[EarlXX]

Okay, here goes...I'm gonna do the 90s, 80s, 70s and 60s. I'm combining truly great films with personal faves, and with the exception of the number one slot, in no real order

90s
1. Shawshank Redemption
2. Pulp Fiction
3. JFK
4. The Insider
5. Schindlers List
6. Titanic
7. The Truman Show
8. Braveheart
9. Dead Man Walking
10. Heat

80s
1. Raiders Of The Lost Ark
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Return Of The Jedi
4. The Right Stuff
5. Aliens
6. Glory
7. Gandhi
8. Ghostbusters
9. Die Hard
10. RoboCop

70s
1. Jaws
2. Star Wars
3. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
4. The Exorcist
5. Apocalypse Now
6. The Godfather Part II
7. All The Presidents Men
8. Manhattan
9. Monty Python And The Holy Grail
10. Dawn Of The Dead

60s
1. The Longest Day
2. Dr. Strangelove
3. Judgment At Nuremberg
4. The Hustler
5. Night Of The Living Dead
6. In The Heat Of The Night
7. The Manchurian Candidate
8. The Birds
9. Dr. No
10. From Russia With Love

Naturally, theres still a lot of major films from the 60s and 70s I still have to see....

[Howard Schumann]

Originally posted by oscar jubis
I've been reluctant to discuss Hou here because I'm still in the process of discovery; but now I'm ready to say there is no better director alive.

I have seen the following films by HHH:

Boys From Fengkuei
Summer at Grandpa's
A Time to Live and a Time to Die
Dust in the Wind
City of Sadness
The Puppetmaster
Goodbye South, Goodbye
Flowers of Shanghai
Millennium Mambo

I've got a question. If you were introducing HHH to someone for the first time, which of the above that you've seen would you start with?

[Howard Schumann]

Originally posted by EarlXX
Okay, here goes...I'm gonna do the 90s, 80s, 70s and 60s.

My Dinner With Andre, US, 1982, Louis Malle
Unbearable Lightness of Being, US, 1988, Philip Kaufman
Therese, France, 1986, Alain Cavalier
Yeelen, Mali, 1987, Souleyman Cisse
Pixote, Brazil, 1981, Hector Babenco
Running on Empty, US, 1988, Sidney Lumet
Paris, Texas, France, Germany, 1984, Wim Wenders
Ordinary People, US, 1980, Robert Redford
Resurrection, US, 1980, Nicholas Petrie
Local Hero, US, 1983, William Forsyth
Betrayal, US, 1983, David Jones
The Seventh Continent, Austria, 1989, Michael Haneke
The Natural, US, 1984, Barry Levinson
Wings of Desire, Germany, 1988, Wim Wenders
ET, US, 1982, Steven Spielberg
Field of Dreams, US, 1989, Philip Robinson
Hoosiers, US, 1988, David Anspaugh
Wasn’t That a Time, US, 1981, Jim Brown II
Back to the Future, US, 1985 Robert Zemeckis
The Time to Live and The Time to Die, Taiwan, 1985, Hou Hsiao-hsien
Boys From Fengkuei, 1983 Hou Hsiao-hsien
Summer at Grandpa's, 1984, Hou Hsiao-hisen
Milagro Beanfield War, US, 1988, Robert Redford
Moonstruck, US, 1987, Norman Jewison
Matewan, US, 1987, John Sayles
L'Argent, France, 1983, Robert Bresson
Daniel, US, 1982, Sidnney Lumet
Where is the Friend's Home, 1988, Abbas Kiarostami
The Horse Thief, 1989, Tian Zhuangzhuang
Freeze, Die, Come to Life, 1989, Vitali Kanevsky

[cinemabon]

I didn't think anybody saw Daniel Petrie's film, "Resurrection." That was the performance Ellen Burstyn should have won her Oscar for. The Sam Shepard's roll is sort of silly and out of place in the film, but there can be no doubt Burstyn hit her stride here. Mario Tosi, who also shot "The Stunt Man" the same year, uses natural light in some of the scenes (i.e. the "proof" scene where she heals the cripple) that lent other filmmakers to copy his style. Unfortunately, he is no longer working in film. Daniel Petrie, who principly directed for television, was never given his due for this film. An actor can emote all day, but the director is the one who decides if they've hit the mark or missed. Burstyn got all the credit (as she deserved) but Petrie created a film small film that was largely over looked.

[Howard Schumann]

Originally posted by cinemabon
I didn't think anybody saw Daniel Petrie's film, "Resurrection." That was the performance Ellen Burstyn should have won her Oscar for. The Sam Shepard's roll is sort of silly and out of place in the film, but there can be no doubt Burstyn hit her stride here. Mario Tosi, who also shot "The Stunt Man" the same year, uses natural light in some of the scenes (i.e. the "proof" scene where she heals the cripple) that lent other filmmakers to copy his style. Unfortunately, he is no longer working in film. Daniel Petrie, who principly directed for television, was never given his due for this film. An actor can emote all day, but the director is the one who decides if they've hit the mark or missed. Burstyn got all the credit (as she deserved) but Petrie created a film small film that was largely over looked.

I don't know who saw it or who didn't but I own it and have seen it many many times. It is a film I never get tired of seeing. Thanks for the comment.

[cinemabon]

90's Best

The Player
The Unforgiven
Dances With Wolves
JFK
The Silence of the Lambs
Barton Fink
Scent of a Woman
The Remains of the Day
Schindler's List
The Wedding Banquet
Philidelphia
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Shawshank Redemption
Bullets Over Broadway
Forrest Gump
The Lion King
The Usual Suspects
Babe
Shine
Secrets & Lies
Titanic
Good Will Hunting
L A Confidential
Gods and Monsters
The Thin Red Line
The Sixth Sense
American Beauty
Being John Malkovich
The Red Violin

[Chris Knipp]

As usual I am a latecomer to this discussion of decade favorites and I think it's a bit soon to do the 90's but I've drawn up a list of the 80's. No attempt to restrict it to ten. The directors' names are for my own reference. I'll comment later.

FAVORITE MOVIES OF THE EIGHTIES


BEST U.S. & ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Big Chill, The (Lawrence Kasdan)
Blue Velvet (David Lynch)
Brazil (Terry Gilliam)
Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears)
Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg)
Diner (Barry Levinson)
Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch)
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (Stephen Spielberg)
Grifters, The (Stephen Frears)
My Beautiful Laundrette (Stephen Frears)
Platoon (Oliver Stone)
Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)
sex, lies, and videotape (Stephen Soderbergh)
Shining, The (Stanley Kubrick)
Sid and Nancy (Alex Cox)
Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch)
Thin Blue Line, The (Errol Morris)
Tin Men (Barry Levinson)

BEST FOREIGN

As Tears Go By (Wong Kar-Wai)
Au Revoir les enfants (Louis Malle)
Dekalog (Krzysztof Kieslowski)
Kagemusha (Akira Kurosawa)
Law of Desire, The (Pedro Almodóvar)
Night of the Shooting Stars, The (Taviani brothers)
Ran (Akira Kurosawa)
Sid & Nancy (Alan Cox)
Pixote (Hector Babenco)

MOST OVERRATED OF THE EIGHTIES:

Fanny & Alexander (Bergman)
Hannah and Her Sisters (Allen)
Local Hero (Bill Forsyth)
Shoah (Claude Lanzmann)
Terms of Endearment (James L. Brooks)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Robert Zemeckis)
Wings of Desire(Wim Wenders)